


The Buddha says, "Move the fuck on."

by dancinguniverse



Category: Life (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-10 10:20:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5582002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancinguniverse/pseuds/dancinguniverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Jen, this is my partner, Dani Reese.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Buddha says, "Move the fuck on."

Dani shrugs off her coat, glancing around the banquet hall. The upper brass is here in full force, but detectives are light on the ground, and she searches in vain for a face she actually wants to talk to. Kevin had promised, on his knees — literally — not to abandon her, but she still has her coat in her hands, and he’s already been dragged off by the commissioner for some conversation she’s not privy to. It’s going to be a long night. 

She re-evaluates when she runs into Charlie near the coat check. He raises his eyebrows at her but keeps his eyes on her face, which is why he’s her favorite partner, not that he gets to hear that. Her dress is conservative, because she’ll be damned if she’s going to flash her boobs at the men who run her department, but it’s still a lot more revealing than her usual work attire. Charlie only asks, “Did Tidwell bribe you?” 

She grimaces. ”A combination of bribes and begging,” she admits, but she relaxes slightly in Charlie’s company. She eyes him curiously. “Are you a donor here, or a trophy?” On a personal level, the department still seems to mostly hate Charlie, but he’s popular enough with the public and press that he’s worth dragging out for fundraisers and certain public functions. 

He gives her his falsest smile. “I know people here,” he says, which isn’t an answer, but she lets it go. You have to pick your battles with Charlie, and she doesn’t want to be at this event either. 

“The only people I know here I hate,” she grumbles, and his shocked expression of mock hurt is miles happier than the smile he gave her a minute ago. “Present company excluded,” she allows. “Sometimes.” He smiles down at her more cheerfully, and she lets herself acknowledge how well he wears his tux. She doesn’t feel guilty about noticing. Charlie’s life doesn’t appeal to her. The pool is nice, and she wouldn’t trade him as a partner for the world, but Kevin’s apartment has well worn furniture and magazines piled in the corners, and he gives her the same look when she beats him in Mario Kart that he gives her when she’s naked, so there’s no contest, really. 

“You wanna find some food?” she asks Charlie, and he opens his mouth to respond, but then his eyes flick to something over her head, and he gets _that_  expression on his face, dreamy and appreciative in a way that only means one thing. Dani huffs out a sigh and turns to look. It may be rude, and she tries not to cockblock him unnecessarily, but she’s really not looking forward to being ditched by both her boyfriend _and_  her partner at this stupid party, so she’s not exactly going to play the wingman. 

It’s not hard to figure out who’s stolen his attention. There’s a tall, willowy blonde making a beeline in their direction, and Dani rolls her eyes back to Charlie. “It’s been two minutes,” she complains, and Charlie blinks down at her, distracted. 

“What?”

Dani sighs and waves her hand as the woman approaches, coming to a stop way too close to Charlie and then crossing her arms, like that makes her look any less interested. She doesn’t even glance over at Dani, eyes locked on Charlie’s face.  

“Are you stalking me?” the woman inquires. She sounds thrilled by the idea.

“It’s a police fundraiser,” Charlie replies innocently, leaning in towards her like a magnet. “And you came over to me. Again.” 

“My husband is here,” she demurs, but more like it makes for a fun, sexy addition to her night than like it’s an actual warning. Dani would have already made her escape, but they’ve sort of boxed her in, her back up against the wall by the coat check. 

“Both of them,” Charlie agrees, and Dani shakes her head, not sure she heard that right, because _what?_  She’s almost curious enough to remain a fly on the wall, but then the woman somehow steps even closer, reaching for Charlie’s hand, and Dani pastes on a fake smile and tries to push her way out before she gags. 

“If you could excuse me,” she grits out, and Charlie glances down, his face lighting up as he remembers her presence. 

“Jen, this is my partner, Dani Reese.” And now Dani is forced to stop and hold out her hand, smiling awkwardly. 

“Hi.” 

“Reese, this is Jennifer. My wife,” Charlie finishes brightly, relishing the last word.

The handshake is suddenly a lot more awkward. Dani hadn’t liked the woman much on appearances alone, but even so she’s surprised by the visceral surge of dislike she feels at this revelation.

If she went around hating everyone who had once let Charlie Crews down, Kevin would be the only person on the force she could speak to, and only because he’d been on literally the other side of the country when everything went down. 

Still. She was his goddamn wife. Dani’s pretty sure there’s a special level in hell for that kind of betrayal, and the lovesick way Charlie is gravitating toward her only makes Dani more angry.

“Ex-wife,” Jennifer corrects, but the look she shoots Charlie is anything but displeased. Which, if that’s how she feels, then where the hell was she for twelve years of prison, and where the hell has she been while Charlie haunts his stupid empty house and fills his life with fruit and Italian cars?

Dani doesn’t quite drop Jennifer’s hand like it’s a poisonous snake, but it’s a near thing. 

“Nice to meet you,” Jennifer offers easily, and Dani manages to extract her hand in a way that isn’t obviously rude. 

“Yeah,” she says, and doesn’t look at Jennifer or Charlie. “Well, I was just going--” 

“Me too,” Jennifer interrupts, and now she does put her hand on Charlie’s, as if he were going to try to stop her. Maybe he would have, Dani isn’t sure, but Jennifer definitely didn’t wait to find out. “I’ll see you around, Charlie.” 

She saunters off with a very definite swing in her hips. He sighs after her, and Dani has to admit that kind of attitude would make it hard to get over someone. On the other hand... 

“So that’s Jennifer!” Charlie says to her, beaming. 

Dani tries to swallow her outright revulsion, but can’t quite mask her overall distaste. “What?” Charlie asks her. “Reese, what?”

“Please tell me she’s gotten worse over the years,” Dani pleads, disgusted. 

“I think she’s gotten better,” Charlie says appreciatively, and Dani makes a face. 

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know,” Charlie says easily. “I didn’t either. Well, I did, and she definitely has. Then again, I didn’t see many women at all for twelve years, so most of them look better than they used to. Back when we were married, she was--” Dani raises her hand warningly, and he shrugs and switches tacks without missing a breath. “But I meant it the other way too. She was so young. She didn’t deserve anything that happened to her. I don’t blame her.”

“Really,” Dani states, disbelieving. She’s seen Charlie’s quest for vengeance first hand. She’s seen his Zen shtick too, but she’s always assumed on some level that’s all it is: an act, a coping mechanism. She knows the vengeance is real. 

“I’d hate her,” Dani says honestly, and Charlie shakes his head, his mouth curved into a shape that’s not quite a smile. 

“No, you wouldn’t.” 

“I’m pretty damn sure, Crew.” 

“Sure, you’re sure now. But I’ve been there. I did hate her, for a while there. Now I don’t.” 

Dani makes a face. “How?”

“Because hate is poison, Reese,” he sing songs. “Hate is drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. It’s not good for you.” 

Dani studies Charlie, really looks at her puzzle of a partner. It’s not the first time, she’s sure it won’t be the last, but she has a new piece of the puzzle now, maybe even an edge piece. Charlie just raises his eyebrows back at her, either comfortable with her scrutiny or secure in his enigma. 

She can see, she guesses, why Charlie chooses not to hate his ex-wife. Not that the woman doesn’t deserve it, but she can understand why Charlie has made an active choice. She can only imagine how exhausting it must be to hate everyone you’ve ever known, and she can see the appeal in simply not doing so. But there’s a pretty wide gulf between a lack of hatred and diving back in with someone who promised to live her life by your side, disappeared for the absolute worst time in your life, and then shows up down to fuck, but not to leave her husband. It’s like Charlie has some kind of masochistic streak in him. 

Then again, she really can’t imagine what Charlie’s life has been like. She can’t imagine being so starved for familiar people that she’d overlook anything and everything just to let them back into her life. She can try to imagine, but it’s as close as she can get. Still. The thought of Charlie staying with that harpy, the possibility that he thinks her crazy game of lust is worth pretending it’s the real thing... Dani can’t understand how that relationship isn’t damaged beyond repair, and while Charlie seems to find an odd comfort in it, Dani can’t believe there isn’t something better waiting for him. 

“You don’t have to drive around in a car full of bullet holes,” is what eventually works its way out of her mouth, and dammit, because it makes even less sense out loud than it did in her head. He must be rubbing off on her. But Charlie looks at her a little sadly, like he understands anyway. 

“It’s nice to go back sometimes,” he says wistfully, and Dani’s heart hurts in spite of herself. 

“It doesn’t work that way, Crews.” He sighs and for the briefest of moments, his shoulders slump, and she almost wishes she hadn’t said anything. 

“I can hate her for you,” Dani offers, and Charlie smirks a little, the slump relaxing into a casual slouch against the wall. 

“If you must.” 

Kevin walks up, carrying two tall, fluted glasses in one hand. She narrows her eyes. “Did you bring me champagne?” she accuses, and he looks betrayed. 

“Of course not. I’m not an asshole.” He tips one of the glasses into his mouth, and passes the other to Charlie, who takes it with a happy smile. 

She looks at Kevin, and he shrugs helplessly. “They don’t walk around offering little glasses of Coca-Cola on trays, now do they?” But then he offers a plate with four bacon wrapped shrimp that he somehow hid as he approached, and Dani is mollified. 


End file.
